Engaging children with artists who look like them, have similar experiences, and come from similar backgrounds is a great source of inspiration and empowerment. By reflecting their own identities, experiences and motivations (mirrors) and also providing insight into the identities, experiences and motivations of others (windows) can move students toward more nuanced perceptions of the world around them (sliding glass doors).* Discover new BIPOC artists to add to your curriculum.
*Source: By Rudine Sims Bishop, The Ohio State University. "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors"
Middle Eastern & NOrth African Artists
Artists have many layered identities and art educators need to present them as such.
Representing diverse artists in your curriculum is only part of an Anti-Bias, Anti-Racist curriculum. It needs to be more than a symbolic effort and art educators need to take into account intersectionality when introducing these artists to students. How do aspects of an artists’ social and political identities (ex. gender, sex, race, class, sexuality, religion, ability, physical appearance, etc.) intersect within their work?
In addition, we recognize that race is socially constructed and it is impossible to put humans in clearly defined categories by race. Racial identity is deeply personal, and artists within any given subgroup define themselves differently. Race, ethnicity, and nationality are all factors artist's individually consider as their personal identity. However, as mentioned previously that is not all that there is to their identity. We know that artists have many layered identities and art educators need to do the research to present them as such. These groupings are not perfect, as humans are not meant to be divided into boxes. We hope this resource can help art educators identify who is missing from their curriculum in order to create a curriculum more representative of the incredible diversity among students and artists today.
A
Abdulnasser Gharem
Saudi Arabian
ʻĀdil Sīwī
Egyptian
Aimen Ajhani
Libyan
Alaa Awad
Egyptian
Alia Ali
Yemeni-Bosnian-American
Ahmed Mater
Saudi Arabian
Ahmet Ögüt
Turkish
Alla Abudabbus
Libyan
Amina Menia
Algerian
Arif al-Nomay
Yemeni
Aya Tarek
Egyptian
Ayşe Erkmen
Turkish
Azade Köker
Turkish
B
Bahman Mohasses
Iranian
Baya Mahieddine or Fatima Haddad
Algerian
C-D
E
Elias Izoli
Syrian
Emily Jacir
Palestinian
F
Faeq Hassan
Iraqi
Faisal Samra
Saudi Arabian
Faramarz Pilaram
Iranian
Farhad Moshiri
Iranian
Fayçal Baghriche
Algerian
Farah Al Qasimi
Emirati
G
Gülsün Karamustafa
Turkish
H
Hale Tenger
Turkish
Halil Altındere
Turkish
Hanaa Malallah
Iraqi
Hassan Massoudy
Iraqi
Hassan Hajjaj
Moroccan
Hayv Kahraman
Iraqi
Helen Zughaib
Lebanese
Hiwa K
Iraqi
Houmam Al Sayed
Syrian
Hannah Shaban
Lebanese American
I
Ibi Ibrahim
American-Yemeni
Ilyes Messaoudi
Tunisian
Inji Aflatoun
Egyptian
İrfan Önürmen
Turkish
Ismail Fatah Al Turk
Iraqi
J
Jananne Al-Ani
Iraqi-Irish
Jawad Saleem
Iraqi
Jordan Nassar
American (Palestinian Heritage)
K
Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād
Persian
Kamrooz Aram
Iranian (Middle Eastern)
Khaled Hafez
Egyptian
Khaled Takreti
French-Syrian
L
Lalla Essaydi
Moroccan
Leila Alaoui
French-Moroccan
Lulwah Al-Homoud
Saudi Arabian
M
Magdolene Dykstra
Egyptian-Canadian
Mahi Binebine
Moroccan
Mahmoud Farshchian
Iranian
Manal Al Dowayan
Saudi Arabian
Marcos Grigorian
Armenian-Iranian
Mariam Ghani
Afghan–American
Massinissa Selmani Algerian
Matug Aborawi
Libyan
Meriem Bennani
Moroccan
Michael Rakowitz
Iraqi-American
Mona Hatoum
Palestinian
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
Iranian
Morehshin Allahyari
Iranian
Mounir Fatmi
Moroccan
Murad Subay
Yemeni
N
Nasreen Shaikh Jamal Al Lail
Indian and Saudi
Nezaket Ekici
German-Turkish
Newsha Tavakolian
Iranian
Nilbar Güreş
Turkish
O
Omar El-Nagdi
Egyptian
P
Parastou Forouhar
Iranian
Parviz Tanavoli
Iranian
Pinar Yolaçan
Turkish
Q
R
Rafa al-Nasiri
Iraqi
Rahman Taha
Yemeni
Reza Derakshani
Iranian
Reem Al Faisal
Saudi Arabian
S
Sadegh Tirafkan
Iranian
Sadek Rahim
Algerian
Safâa Erruas
Moroccan
Safwan Dahoul
Syrian
Sanaz Mazinani
Iranian-Canadian
Sara Shamma
Syrian
Sarah Mohanna Al Abdali
Saudi Arabian
Seif Wanly
Egyptian
Shadi Ghadirian
Iranian
Shakir Hassan Al Said
Iraqi
Shirin Aliabadi
Iranian
Shirin Neshat
Iranian
Sheida Soleimani
Iranian-American
Shadia Heenan Nilforoush
Iranian-American
Sliman Mansour
Palestinian
Stephanie Boutari
Canadian/Egyptian
T
Tammam Azzam
Syrian
U-V-W-X
Y
Yasmine Diaz
American-Yemeni
Yto Barrada
Franco-Moroccan
Yumna al-Arashi Yemeni Egyptian
Z
Zahrah Al Ghamdi
Saudi Arabian
Zakaria Ramhani
Moroccan
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The Middle East is a transcontinental region which generally includes Western Asia, all of Egypt, and Turkey. The term has come into wider usage as a replacement of the term Near East beginning in the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century a common definition of the Middle East encompassed the states or territories of: Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, and the various states and territories of Arabia proper (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the Trucial States, or Trucial Oman [now United Arab Emirates]).
MENA is an acronym for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The region includes approximately 19 countries, according to World Atlas. These are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. A further 16 countries are sometimes included depending on usage. These are Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Chad, Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, and Turkey.
North Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in the west, to Egypt's Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the east. The most commonly accepted definition includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan, the 6 countries that shape the top North of the African continent.